Massive Antarctic iceberg ripped in two by powerful ocean currents
Jennifer Nalewicki - Yesterday 8:43 AM
A swift change in ocean currents in the Southern Ocean likely snapped one of the largest icebergs in half like a twig.
The gigantic ice mass — called A68a — was known as a tabular iceberg due to its rectangular shape. At its largest it was roughly the size of Delaware, covering approximately 2,300 square miles (6,000 square kilometers), and in 2017 it famously calved off another iceberg, A68, dumping 1 trillion tons of meltwater into the ocean over the three years it was seabound. But scientists didn't know what caused A68a to break apart.
In a study published Wednesday (Oct. 19) in Science Advances, researchers from Princeton University in New Jersey used satellite imagery and datasets to travel back in time to December 2020, when the finger-shaped iceberg experienced two breakdown events.
After passing by South Georgia Island, A68a began fracturing, with a large chunk breaking off as a direct result of the iceberg's keel dragging on the seafloor, however the second event befuddled experts since the iceberg was floating in the deep, open ocean.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/massive-antarctic-iceberg-ripped-in-two-by-powerful-ocean-currents/ar-AA13hGjM?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=82605d9d2eae43c0803c2ba43ac90000
